Golf roundup: Stress-free win for NA; Rohanna gets top-10 finish
Kevin Na always believed he could win at Colonial, so he paused to visualize his name on the wall of champions at the first tee before making another run at it.
The South Korean-born American will get to read his name on that wall next year.
Na birdied four of the first eight holes and shot a 4-under 66 for a four-shot victory over Tony Finau on Sunday on the cozy course made famous by Ben Hogan, securing his third career PGA Tour win and second in 10 months.
“On the first tee, I saw that wall, looked at the names, right below Justin Rose,” Na said, referring to the defending champion. “And in my head, I engraved my name on it. I was just trying to visualize success before I teed off.”
Na opened with a two-shot lead and was in front by at least that many for the final 16 holes after putting his second shot inside 5 feet for birdie at the par-4 second. Na finished 13 under after a bow-tying birdie at 18.
The win came after Na put himself in contention with a second-round 62, one off the Colonial record. That low round was a year after tying that course-record 61 in the final round to finish fourth.
Rohanna finishes 9th: Rachel Rohanna shot 4-under 68 Sunday in the final round of the Symetra Tour’s Zimmer Biomet Championship in Auburn, Ala., and finished in ninth place at 5-under 283.
Rohanna’s won $7,099 by finishing.
Nuria Iturrios opened the final round in the lead and finished atop the leaderboard with a four-day total of 12-under 276.
Rohanna steadily improved over the four-day tournament. She shot 1-over 73 in the first round, even-par 72 in round two, 2-under 70 on Saturday and the 4-under final round.
Rohanna hit 8-of-14 fairways and 13-of-18 greens in regulation. She had her lowest putt total, needing 28 to close out the final round.
Rohanna now heads to Charleston, S.C., to play in the U.S. Women’s Open. Rohanna, amateur Auston Kim and Wei-Ling Hsu are the final threesome off No. 10 at the County Club of Charleston with a 2:57 p.m. tee time.
First senior major for Tanigawa: Ken Tanigawa overcame a three-shot deficit on the back nine to pass defending champion Paul Broadhurst and saved par on the final hole for a one-shot victory in the Senior PGA Championship for his first senior major.
In only his second year on the PGA Tour Champions, and some 15 years after giving up playing professionally, Tanigawa shot an even-par 70 at Oak Hill to hold off Scott McCarron. The 51-year-old Tanigawa finished at 3-under 277.
Initial victory for Law: Bronte Law shot a 3-under 67 and held off a series of challengers Sunday to win the Pure Silk Championship by two shots for her first career victory on the LPGA Tour.
Law, a 24-year-old from England who played at UCLA, held a share of the lead after all four rounds and finished with a 17-under 267 total on the River Course at the Kingsmill Resort.